COVID-19: Students planning to study overseas left in the lurch

Restrictions about allowing students are getting strict in other countries. Representation pic

For the second year in a row, Indian students planning to study abroad are a troubled lot. With the second wave of COVID-19 surging in India, restrictions are getting stricter in other countries. Germany, Canada, Australia have stopped entry to Indian students, for the US and UK there are no visa appointments available.

After postponing their dreams of studying abroad last year, many Indian students were planning to head to their desired destinations this year. But the second wave has again led to major disappointment for many. The main concern is for those who are carrying on with the deferral for their approval from last year's admission process, as if they fail to join this year; they will have to apply from scratch. Many had completed a year of their two-year course online and were eager to join on-campus academics as many foreign universities have begun the old system.

Himanshu Maurya, a student from Navi Mumbai has t completed a year of his masters course electrical engineering at the Deggendorf Institute of Technology in Germany. He was to fly on May 1 to attend next year on campus. "But Germany has banned entry for Indians now. And there is no stipulated time frame for this ban. So we have no clue on when I finally get to go. The expenses for flight tickets, accommodation facility, etc. are non-refundable," said Himanshu.

‘No visa appointments'

"There are no visa appointments currently for the US. The fall term is to begin in August and students are worried whether they will be able to join in time," said Sumeet Jain, CEO and co-founder, Yocket, an overseas education consultancy. Aakash Kolekar from Mumbai wants to join University of Arizona for a Masters course in August 2021, but there is no clarity on the visa as yet. His admission was approved last academic year, but due to the pandemic, he was allowed a deferral for a year. "That expires this year. I will have to begin the process from start. With no clarity on visa, we cannot even book tickets and anyway flights are limited," said Aakash, adding for working professionals like him, the "decision to resign or not is also difficult, as the job market is very shaky currently."

Many working professionals are heading for higher education abroad due to uncertainty in India. "Many prefer to acquire additional qualifications while they can, as education systems in some countries are almost getting back to normal. Due to this, deferral applications and attractive waivers by foreign universities to increase international students, many are applying to go abroad to study," said Vaibhav Gupta, head of Alliance and Marketing at iSchool Connect.